Jak is a series I have a complicated relationship with, however Precursor Legacy while having it's flaws is a game I do very much enjoy out of all the "mainline" Jak games, I consider this to be the best one. It's the only game out the initial trilogy of games I can play more than once since I have beaten it on PS3, PS4 and now thanks to the PS Premium upgrade path, PS5. The game does have some major problems but as a whole I'd say the good outweighs the bad.
A huge point to Jak 1's favor is the lack of load times for levels, this might not sound like a big deal but I can assure you, when playing a game with a lack of load screens, it just immerses you into the level that much more since you can just on playing without any annoying breaks inbetween. It was impressive for the time and still is impressive now. The only form of loading that can be noticeable is when using the fast travel warp gates and those aren't even that long.The platforming moveset and controls in Jak is also really good and is one of the more memorable platforming movesets in a 3D platformer and the latter is why I prefer this game over Banjo Kazzoie. The controls in Banjo can be pretty stitled and awkward especially for those not used to the N64's style of controls. Jak's controls are pretty easy to understand and feels more refined since Naughty Dog has experience from the Crash games on top of being on a dual analog controller. Precursor Legacy being able to have an autosave without a re release over a decade later also adds to Jak's more easier to approach feel than Banjo.
Jak's moveset consist of the usual stuff like jump, crouch and double jump. You can also roll, roll jump, hi jump and a spin attack that can also be used as a move during combat and gives extra air time after a double jump. My favorite move to do is the roll jump since it makes up for the lack of a sprint button and clearing large gaps with it is really satisfying
The story for the most part is unintrusive and is basically just an excuse plot which is fine, I mainly want to explore, do platforming challenges and collect stuff which is why I want to address a major criticism is Jak's lack of a voice, I personally don't really mind it since there isn't much in the way of a plot and Jak's characterization in the game is nothing more him being an adventurer. It is a little annoying to not have Jak say anything but the cutscenes after the opening, are short enough that Jak's inability to speak never really stands out.
Level design is where the game mostly shines but can also be a weakness. I'll start with the good, one amazing thing about Precursor Legacy is that everything has a delibrate feel to it. The individual levels hit the right length of being not too small and not too large. Getting a Power Cell just feels so satisfying due to the victory fanfare just hitting that, "hell yeah I did that" and Jak and Daxter's victory animations being not too long and not too short to make it feel like an accomplishment. Since the levels hit the right size length whether you are collecting precursor orbs, scout files, exploring and doing various tasks, the player is always rewarded to some degree for being curious and looking around every nook and cranny which is something every exploration based game should nail even in Jak's case you get no new powers or anything new for exploring since it's collectathon platformer.
This is where I get to the negative parts since TPL is a collectathon this means that the structure of the game can be pretty messy. My big issue is that there might've been more levels than what was needed. What I'm trying to say is that if you aren't 100%ing the game, that means some levels can outright be skipped so if you don't like one level, go to another. Some can view this as a strength, but what is the point of designing game levels of content that not everyone is going to see? It just seems like a waste of time and money. My way of fixing this is to either cut the amount of levels or raise the Power Cell amount for each story milestone, I would prefer the latter since I'm under the belief, "less is more".
Another big issue is the combat, while not "bad" by any means. Some aspects can be misleading for example when I constantly punch or spin attack I expect to consistently mow down enemies but the thing is some attacks can be dodged while other attacks are almost like a hitscan you can't avoid which means that eventually you will get hit no matter how much you spam the punch or spin attack or on the move, the enemy will inevitably land a hit. No ability to evade doesn't help either. Luckily the game does frequently checkpoint which is a huge point for the game's favor.
The vehicle controls and minigames aren't great but the mandatory vehicle sections are mercifully short and the mini games can be skipped due the structure.
Overall, Jak TPL is a really good game and still my favorite collectathon platformer. I still enjoy returning to it.
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